In August, I wrote about Hayley Taylor’s “No More Wishing,” and how I admired her for defining her idea of a true love. I’m also quite fond of her latest release, One Foot in Front of the Other; Taylor’s given us an album full of honest tunes that play well to her strengths: thoughtful songwriting, … Read more
To me, the best Matthew Ryan songs are the ones where you’re left feeling exposed, like he’s written something about you, something secret. Ryan is one of my favorite songwriters because of songs like “3rd of October,” “Your Museum,” and “It Could’ve Been Worse” – songs that are courageous because they tell the truth, even … Read more
“Remember when we met/ We were so innocent/ I was so cautious, you were so cool/ The world was brand new…“ Those words come from the first Matthew Ryan song I ever heard, which was was “Devastation” off his 2001 album Concussion. That tune happens to be a duet with Lucinda Williams, another one of … Read more
Yup, I’m taking it WAY back to 1971, Leonard Cohen style. Like you could have stopped me. This song has always frightened the hell out of me with its unforgiving sense of what is real. It’s such a sobering tale of all the shit that can go wrong in your life. Well, to me it … Read more
The subject matter of Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel #2 has more-than-likely never conjured sexy images for a single soul, especially given he admittedly wrote it about a steamy love affair he had with Janis Joplin at that infamous hotel in New York City. In fact, just writing about it just made my stomach churn a … Read more
There’s a Cowboy Junkies memory I’ve never been able to erase from my mind: I often think back to the time I heard Margo Timmins sing “Thirty Summers” at The Pageant in the summer of 2001. I have the bootleg somewhere in my house, and sure, it helps recreate the moment, at least sonically. But, … Read more
Joy Williams and John Paul White at The Pageant | Photo by Louis Kwok “How about a happy song?” John Paul White asked the sold-out Pageant audience before launching into “I’ve Got This Friend,” a stellar track off Barton Hollow. “We have one of those.” And although most of the songs played last night at … Read more
[Editor’s Note – The below text is written by Joshua Cockerill, a.k.a Animal Parts, who will be playing a show for SIC on October 20th at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. Now shhhh…read cautiously…I hear footsteps…] Be quiet and listen. There is a gorilla in the mangroves. I’ve laid out a trail of pogo … Read more
Photo by Jason Gonulsen Some people get religion Some people get the truth I never get the truth I never get the truth I want to get this out of the way, even if I’ve already said it numerous times: Brandi Carlile is ridiculously good at what she does. If you haven’t found her songs, … Read more